“These creatures were here before us. And if we’re not
careful, they’re going to be here after. Life cannot be contained. Life breaks
free. Life… finds a way.” ~ Ian Malcolm
“The man who proved raptors can follow orders. You never
thought how many millions a trained predator might be worth?” ~ Eli Mills
“Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? First
time you see them, it’s like… a miracle. You read about them in books, you see the bones in museums, but you don’t
really… believe it. They’re like myths. And then you see… the first one alive.”
~ Claire Dearing
“If I don’t make it back, remember, you’re the one who made
me come here.” ~ Owen Grady
The fifth film in the Jurassic
Park franchise, and the second in a planned Jurassic World trilogy, has hit theatres. The film series, about
science stepping over a moral line in resurrecting dinosaurs through cloning,
has been a thrill ride ever since, weaving between reptilian terror and the
ethical question of where the line between right and wrong is. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom reunites the
stars of the previous film for another round of dinosaur mayhem, while bringing
in a fresh director to handle the project.
Three years after the events of the previous film, Senate
hearings are underway, as the abandoned Isla Nublar is facing impending
destruction because of volcanic activity, and the question remains- should the
dinosaurs be rescued? Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role) feels
that nature is correcting the mistake made in cloning the animals. Claire
Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), former operations chief at Jurassic World, has
founded a group called the Dinosaur Protection Group and is advocating saving
the animals. She is contacted by Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) and his
assistant Eli Mills (Rafe Spall); Lockwood was once partners with the late John
Hammond, and offers a new island as a sanctuary for the animals. Claire must
bring in Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), the former raptor wrangler, to aid in the efforts
to save the dinosaurs. It doesn’t take long for volcanic eruptions and hidden
agendas to assert themselves.
Director Colin Trevorrow took writing duties this time out,
due to return for a final film in the trilogy as director. The story, crafted
with Derek Connolly, who worked with Trevorrow and others on Jurassic World, continues the tradition
of the franchise’s mixing of wonder, terror, and the ethical debate of science.
It’s familiar ground by now, this being the fifth film of the series, and while
it might seem dinosaurs living in the present might well have lost their sense
of wonder by now, the story still maintains the tension and dread when things
go inevitably wrong (as they always seem to do when you’ve got a plan involving
dinosaurs).
Trevorrow and Connolly’s script not only works off that
tension, but it uses the characters to frame that ethical debate. Just because
we can do something, does that mean we should? Some of the characters are quite
firm in their moral code on the matter, while others only see their own
ambitions, driven by their own greed and self-interest. Those are qualities
that often come back to haunt the individual in these films, and that certainly
applies here. One might even say it’s a statement at the state of the world
today.
Spanish director J.A. Bayona has come on board to helm this
film. He would best be known to American audiences for his disaster film The Impossible, and some of his work at
home includes horror. He has the experience then for something on this scale,
an epic that still grounds itself in its characters. The CGI mix of dinosaurs
with locations has already been well established in the franchise; the animals
have a real look that makes them blend seamlessly in with everything else. We
are a long way past the stilted awkwardness of Ray Harryhausen effects, and
this franchise has been a big part of that push forward. Bayona paces the film
well, with the first half coming across as a disaster film before weaving into
what feels like a haunted house scenario with the second half.
The cast is diversely chosen, some returning from previous
films, others new to the franchise. B.D. Wong has previously appeared as the
geneticist Doctor Wu, the man most responsible for the cloning of dinosaurs in
the first film. The actor plays the role as cold, clinical, detached, and
amoral, a scientist who’s more concerned with his ego and his accomplishments
than the wisdom of whether or not something should be carried out. Justice
Smith makes his debut as Franklin Webb, a computer technician for the old theme
park who’s become a specialist for the Dinosaur Protection Group. He is brought
in on the endeavor, and the actor gets some of the comic relief of the story.
Daniela Pineda plays the capable Zia Rodriguez, a former Marine who’s become a
paleoveterinarian for the group. She’s tough and resourceful, and the actress
plays to that in her performance. Isabella Sermon appears as the pre-required kid (there's always a kid in these films) in peril- Maisie Lockwood, granddaughter of the benefactor, and keeps her cards close to the proverbial vest in her performance, as there is more to her than meets the eye.
Rafe Spall is an English actor, the son of Timothy Spall,
and he’s done work in television and film on both sides of the Atlantic. He gets
to play the villain this time out, the ambitious executive with plans of his
own and little in the way of ethics. Seemingly pleasant at first, he’s of the
sort who keeps his agenda hidden and his malice concealed, but it’s there. The
character seems to think he’s doing the right thing, which is an interesting
angle in a movie. James Cromwell, the well-known character actor, appears as
Benjamin Lockwood, a former associate of John Hammond who’s seemingly
benevolent in his intentions, but hides secrets of his own and ignores the dark
side of his associates. Cromwell has played both good and bad people before-
this is a mix of both elements. Ted Levine, who's played many a nasty person in his career, gets to chew the scenery as the mercenary team leader Wheatley, throwing his weight around and serving the interests of his employer. And Toby Jones, the character actor, plays an unscrupulous auctioneer.
Jeff Goldblum, who appeared in the first two films of the
franchise, isn’t as heavily involved this time out, but is still a welcome
sight to see (perhaps Sam Neill might reprise his Alan Grant one more time?).
Ian Malcolm is of course a chaos theory academic with some personal experience
with dinosaurs from the first two films, and Goldblum’s take is much the same.
Ian is older now, but still as charming, still as irreverent, and still as
principled- he draws a line in the sand, adheres to an ethical code, and
expresses most strongly the moral dilemma of the story.
Bryce Dallas Howard has already played Claire Dearing in Jurassic World, and returns with the
character in a very different place. She has gone from being operations manager
in a dinosaur theme park with all the responsibilities therein to seeing that
all come apart in the previous film. The character has learned lessons from
that, and changed her world view, heading a group dedicated to protecting the
animals. She plays Claire as sympathetic, having had taken hard lessons to
heart, and become more of a principled person because of it.
Chris Pratt returns as the affable, capable Owen Grady, once
a trainer to the velociraptors in the theme park. Having had managed to establish
a working relationship with the predators, the experience also taught Owen
respect for their nature, and it’s that previous relationship that drives him
to join the rescue effort. Pratt plays the character with a combination of laid
back humour at times, focused dedication at others, but always resourceful. He
and Howard have an easy going chemistry that builds on their character’s
established histories, and the two make for likable leads.
Jurassic World: Fallen
Kingdom appears to be the second to last of the franchise, with one more
film coming. It certainly leaves things off in a way that points to the future
of the films, though I do think the studio would be wise to leave it at that
afterwards. We’ve gotten ourselves so used to the wonder of the dinosaurs
brought back to life onscreen that it all seems quite familiar. The film
maintains that ethical debate of the morality of generating life without
heeding the consequences, framing that debate with the terror of plans gone
terribly wrong and the mayhem of dinosaurs on the loose. All in all, it’s an
entertaining new chapter for the series.
